![]() ![]() ![]() This club stands apart, however, because of its association with the museum and because the Blue Room takes its name from a club that once existed in a hotel in the city’s 1930s jazz district. Emanuel Cleaver, the former mayor of Kansas City, with helping to nurture and develop the city’s jazz infrastructure, which includes a Jazz Walk of Fame as well as clubs such as the Green Lady Lounge and Black Dolphin. The Blue Room isn’t the only institution that supports the Kansas City jazz scene. In his 23 years at the club, which is open four nights a week, he’s worked on cultivating talent, booking local and regional acts above all, including the Scamps, Karrin Allyson, and Peter Schlamb, among many others. In his role at the Blue Room, part of Kansas City’s American Jazz Museum-which, like the club, opened in 1997-Dunn (also the director of entertainment for the museum) tries to make sure that the local scene remains in good shape. It’s sort of like it was back when they used to call Kansas City the ‘Paris of the Plains.’” “I think cats are able to do all sorts of gigs. ![]() “A lot of guys move to Kansas City in search of work,” says Gerald Dunn, general manager of the Blue Room, Kansas City’s premier jazz club. If the scene isn’t what it once was- how could it be?-it’s still more than healthy. The Kansas City jazz scene was one of the country’s most vibrant hubs of blues and improvisation, home to such pioneers as Jay McShann, Bennie Moten, Count Basie, and, of course, Charlie Parker, the architect of bebop. ![]()
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